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Revealed: where the extra NHS cash is really spent

TONY BLAIR has failed to transform the National Health Service despite the biggest government spending spree in the 60-year history of the welfare state, according to an independent audit.

The “unprecedented” injection of more than £30 billion of taxpayers’ money into the service has achieved “significant” benefits, says the study, but has yet to translate into clear gains in the nation’s health. “There has been significant improvement in most areas the government has focused policies on,” concludes an analysis published this weekend by the King’s Fund, an independent health research group. “However, the NHS as a whole has not yet been transformed.”

The report, commissioned by The Sunday Times, states that “important problems” remain and that “there is as yet no firm evidence to show that Labour’s reforms have produced a marked difference in health outcomes”.

The findings come as public spending emerges as a key election battleground between Labour